Chapter Two

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Arlington National Cemetery, namely the Tomb of the Unknown, seemed appropriate for putting Charon's belongings there. He was after all a forgotten soldier; once after everything was said and done, even after the purifier was activated and the Enclave defeated in their own base no less, no one remembered the ghoul that sacrificed himself to save my life and theirs. It wasn't fair but I don't think Charon would have even cared if he was remembered by the Brotherhood of Steel or anyone in the Capital Wasteland.

Except me though; I never forget. My memory can be selective sometimes but I never forget.

It took me a good week to finally muster up the courage to do some exploring. Cross went back to the Citadel to help reinforce their standing guard. A few choice items I gave to her as a gift gave her the confidence to head back for a bit and bring their tech up to speed. They would need it if they planned to make any kind of assault to take back the purifier. I needed to get away for awhile and go do what I loved doing; exploring.

Finding new places, seeing new people. It was a calling, a drive and an addiction. It also helped fill the void that had been hollowed out in my soul. The grasp of the unknown, the undiscovered country. It had a seductive way of luring you out even if you were fearful of it. Curiosity eventually overrode your need for self-preservation. That day when I thought I would just find another abandoned shack turned out to be something different.

Agatha...to this day I still think about her. She was a sweet old lady and when I found out she played the violin I couldn't help myself but asked her if she would play Canon in D Minor the first time I met her. I still have that recorded somewhere. I could tell right off though that even though it was beautiful it was also off tone. I felt terrible bringing it up but she didn't mind in fact she outright spoke openly about it, how she had to constantly work with a homemade violin just to get it to work. That's when one of the great ventures I undertook began.

Stradivarius violins were one of the few marvels of the old world that I wish I could own or at least see. I read about them in vault directories and classic music holotapes. The last book I read about them was the Molitor Stradivarius that was rumored to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte. When Agatha told me one of her ancestors actually owned the Swahl Stradivarius my jaw literally felt like it hit the floor.

Without even thinking about it I vowed I would find it for her, unaware or maybe didn't care about the danger I would place myself in. What little did I know was I was going to embark on only a small foot note on a much bigger story. The end would I be gifted with a trademark Magnum that I would keep with me to this day and a long quest to find something that up until recently I only thought was a dream or a work of fiction; The Higgs Boson.